Colrado 2011 - Days 8 & 9

Yesterday was a lazy day - took Breck to the dog park then went and wandered the town going in all of the shops looking for things for the grandkids! Did replace my gold nugget earrings since I lost one at Megan's birthday party. Glad to have them back. Then I came home and did my laundry. At 3:30 Scherry and I headed to Loveland so she could do her weekly shopping. We had a hard time finding a place to eat that was not TOO BUSY but finally settled on a nice Chinese restaurant. It was very good. We did not get back to Estes Park until after 9! Then today Breck and I once again went to the dog park - lots of dogs there this morning. Then we stopped by the grocery store - nice for it to be cool enough for Breck to stay in the car. I brought Breck back to the motor home and I went into the park to the Alluvial Fan. It is a waterfall that was caused by a flood in 1982 (I think) when a dam of a lake up in the mountains broke. It is amazing to see the power of water. I stuck my feet in a mountain stream - just for Ed. Hiked part of the way up the falls. There were a lot of people there. Never coming back in July again. Then i came back to the motor home and watched the rangers lose. When Schers gets off today we are going to do some geocaching. Tomorrow Joan gets here - it will be good to see her.

Colorado 2011 - Day 7

Yesterday when I wrote the post and tried to add pictures the internet connection here in the park was so iffy that I lost it all. So this morning I headed into Loveland to go to the AT&T store to get there mobile hotspot. Works like a charm! So ... Breck and I went to the dog park where he got to swim and run around a bit before the drive. Then we headed down the canyon - it is not much of a hardship because it is a really pretty drive. The AT&T store was anightmare as are all cellular company stores - took forever!! Poor Breck was out in the car - with the top down and the windows open and a bowl of water - and it was only 82! Once that chore was done we headed back up to Estes Park - making a McDonald's stop on the way out of town - lucky dog had a hamburger! In the canyon I stopped and picked up some rocks - yes Kathe - rocks are on the way back to TX. When we got home I set up the MiFi and was able to load pictures! Then at 3:30 I met Schers at her campground and we hiked 4.25 miles up to Sprague Lake and back. Most of it was on a horse trail and was really not wonderful. But we did it and know we don't have to do it again! Then we went to the Sun Deck for Scherry's belated birthday dinner. All in all a pretty good day here in the mountains where it is not 105!

Colorado 2011 - Day 6

Today I took a killer hike - at least as far as this overweight, out-of-shape 65 year old is concerned. I headed up to Bear Lake parking area - getting there about 7:45. Put on my hiking boots and headed out. I was going to Alberta Falls - was there for the 1st time 41 years ago on my honeymoon - always been a special place! It is about a mile - got there took pictures - was actually the only person there for a couple of minutes. I started to go up the Mills Lake trail but changed my mind. Thought I would just go back to Bear Lake but when I got back to the trailhead it was just after 9. Thought maybe I could do a little more so I headed up to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes. Figured I could stop at Dream if it was too much for me. I ended up going all the way to Emerald - I was proud of myself! All in all it was about 6 miles and 160' and then 605' altitude change! Up near Emerald there were 3 large bull elks - right off the path and posing happily for pictures. Then at Emerald there were some marmots - they had absolutely no fear of people that was for sure. When I got back I stopped in the campground to see Schers then came home and took Breck to the dog park. Now I am in for the night - well, I'm sure I will have to walk Breck at least once more. I will try to add a couple of pictures.

Colorado 2011 - Days 3,4 & 5

Monday and Tuesday were Scherry's days off.

Monday, we needed to get her car into Loveland to get the towbar put on so she will be able to get it back to Liberty in the fall. So we left about 9 to take her car into the shop. Then we ate some lunch in Loveland at Cracker Barrel before heading into the Cache la Poudre Canyon. We were proud of ourselves for finding it! It is really a pretty drive. The river was running well. We saw some rafters - glad that that is in my past. They looked like they were having fun though we did pass them when they were all stopped - seemed one raft had had some sort of problem - probably someone overboard - they were all standing on shore while the other rafts waited a bit downstream. Brought back memories... We didn't get back to Estes Park until 5:30 and decided we would just eat in our places.

Tuesday we decided we would take a hike in the morning before going back to Loveland to get Scherry's car. We took the shuttle up to Bear Lake and hiked down the Glacier Creek trail to Bierstadt trailhead to catch the shuttle back to our car. It was a nice hike - about 4.5 miles but downhill which was just what I needed for my first outing! I get pretty winded walking up the hill to the motor home while walking Breck! The flowers were great. And the streams were running nicely! After we finished our hike we went to Sprague Lake for a picnic. Then we headed back to Loveland to get the car. When schers got back to Estes we went to Grumpy Gringos for dinner. Really pretty bad Mexican food!

Wednesday morning at 8 I had an appointment with Lenny - the RV repairman! He arrived about 8:15 and crawled under the motorhome and proclaimed that the motor had a flat part (??) and that was why it was sticking. He said I needed a new motor but I told him I would wait until i got home because I had a service contract on the motorhome. He said that sounded like a plan. He said we could put it out by just pushing it whild the motor was turning. So at least I have my SPACE now! He assured me that the slide will come back in as long as someone is pushing from the outside while I'm inside pushing the button to turn the motor. He said it would work that way for a while BUT that I needed a new motor. So Schers will be pushing Tuesday (before I leave Wed) and itf it doesn't work he'll be coming back up here!!
After he left I decided to head up to the top of Trail Ridge Road so Breck and I put the top down and headed uphill. It was a great drive - car thermometer got down to 57!! On the way back we went by Sheep Meadow and there were 2 young rams in the valley. Took lots of pictures of them! I felt lucky to see them. Then Breckers and I went to the dog park so he could swim and run!! All in all a good day.

Tried to put more than one picture on but only one was successful. Will try more later.

Colorado 2011 - Day 2

The drive today was uneventful - which is always good. Got within 2 miles of my exit when things came to a screeching halt because of a wreck with all kinds of emergency equipmet. Took 45 minutes to go those 2 miles! Then coming up the Big Thompson canyon to Estes Park I was behind the only motorcyclists in the world who were happy doing less than 30 mph!! I kept pulling off on the slow vehicle turnouts just so the line of traffic behind me would know that I was not the one gumming up the works!! Got here and set up camp. Schers came over after work while I was setting up the vue cube for direct tv - nice to have FoxNews again. We went to The Rock for dinner - was a very good burger. Then we went to Safeway - I am never coming in July again - wall to wall peaople in town. It is really crowded. Then we looped through the park on our way back to the rv. We stopped at Alluvial Fan falls - they are running pretty full. Have to go back for pictures. Then we decided to get ice cream - largest one scoop I have ever seen - and really cheap!! All in all a good day.

Colorado 2011 - Day 1

Left the house about 8 this morning after walking Breck and Crash. All went well on the drive. Spent $238 on gas. Great googly wooglies!! After all of the things that went wrong with the motorhome before leaving I was looking forward to a flawless trip. However...the slide will not go out!! This is not a good thing. Going to be awfully cramped in here for almost 3 weeks! Schers gave me the phone number of the guy who fixed her airconditioning in Loveland so I am going to give him a call tomorrow when I get closer to Loveland and Estes Park. Schers said he came to Estes Park to work on one of her park friend's rv so we shall see. Other than that maybe a stick of dynomite and a match!! It is cooler here in Clayton but I am ready to get to the mountains.